INTRODUCTION 7 



made with camera only, photographs of wild and 

 living birds in the native haunts being the sole object, 

 in these last journeyings bird collecting, as well as 

 egg collecting has been included in the programme. 

 The inhabitants of these wild countries attach so 

 little importance to birds that they find it difficult 

 to understand why any sane person should take the 

 trouble and go to the expense of travelling about to 

 photograph them or even to shoot them. No doubt 

 in many cases they look upon the search for birds 

 as merely an excuse, a blind to hide some reason of 

 more importance, political or otherwise ; especially 

 when they see an imposing cavalcade of from half a 

 dozen to a dozen or more mounted men. But 

 perhaps the proverbial madness of all Englishmen 

 accounts for much that is otherwise unaccountable in 

 their eyes ; and I must say that I have met with 

 much genuine kindness and hospitality from the 

 peasants and fishermen of the most remote regions, 

 many of whom had never seen an Englishman before 

 in the whole course of their lives. Few of them, 

 indeed, had the slightest idea where England was 

 situated, though they had a dim sort of idea that 

 there was such a country somewhere. 



My most grateful thanks are due to Baron 

 Bornemisza, late vice-Consul for Austria- Hungary, 

 at Durazzo in Albania, for the most generous 

 hospitality and assistance during two seasons spent 



